October 18, 2005
Well here we find ourselves in the midst of October. I absolutely love this time of year - the changing colors in the trees, the crunch of dried leaves scattered on the ground, pumpkins and scarecrows placed on the footsteps of houses, and the slight chill in the air that gives rise to the much-anticipated weakening of that infamous Texas heat. Of course, with this weather and all the great changes of fall, comes an inevitable reality. The Aggie soccer season is more than well underway; week after week two more games are played and week after week two more games are behind us. The fact of the matter is, my senior season is happening way too fast.
My days are numbered. But I am not alone. There are six of us, and together we now face the daunting reality that what has come to be the best four years of our lives is nearing its end. Only three home games remain on the regular season schedule - three. Even as I write this, it is hard for me to believe. I think back to my freshman year. I so clearly remember the atmosphere in the locker room at Kyle Field before the start of my first game. This was back before we were blessed with the amazing facility we have today. We prepared for our games in the football training room and would drive to the field just before warm-up. I can remember the blare of rap music that echoed from the speakers as everyone changed into their uniforms. I wanted so badly to join in the dance party that had transpired in the middle of the room, yet was so afraid to put myself out there and provide for my older teammates material with which to tease me.
How I have made the best of friends. Over the years I have shared with my teammates my darkest and most painful soccer moments, and I have shared with them the best and most utterly incredible ones. We have tasted failure, and we have tasted success. We have laughed and giggled with each other, and we have yelled and cursed at each other. Every year has provided new challenges, new teammates and new opportunities. Each has been unpredictable and surprisingly unlike that before it. And yet through it all one constant has remained. Year after year, game after game I have witnessed one thing that has never faltered - it is the essence of our team. It is that unchanging, insuppressible, ever-present desire to compete ...to put it all on the line...to prevail. Bottom-line: to play Aggie Soccer - to uphold as a team that which was upheld by those before us. Because as members of the Texas A&M Soccer Team we are fighters; we are winners; we are champions.
Four years have past, and here I am. More than willing to give in to the music and embarrass myself without so much as a second thought, I have grown and become a person I never knew I could. And as I think back on all that I have experienced, I have realized something that, in this time of growth and change, gives me comfort. I have realized that the script of my final season has yet to be written. And so, as I enjoy the changing weather and the presence of yet another fall, I am comforted by a single thought: that I hold in myself, as does each of my teammates, the power to make my own destiny. And I couldn't be more thrilled with the opportunities I am presented in creating this destiny.
Have a great week. I know I will.
Laura
[]